Valkyria Chronicles: Retribution
by Spinnerweb
Summary: The sequel to Taking the Stage. The Atlantic Federation invades Gallia. Anisette and Edy join the army and meet drastically changed old friends while uncovering the secrets of their pasts.
1. Three Countries

**Retribution**

**Chapter 1: Three Countries**

The continent of Europa had been plagued by war throughout the 1930s. The Principality of Gallia, a tiny nation often caught between the giants dominating the continent - The East Europan Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation - had twice been saved from destruction by its vigilant militia, but the wars' toll on the country was undeniably severe. Most of the ragnite sources had been exhausted from being used to power Gallian tanks and airplanes, and many of Gallia's brave soldiers had been killed during the wars. In 1938, peace finally seemed to be returning to Gallia; alas, it did not last long. In 1939, the Atlantic Federation, taking advantage of Gallia's weakened state and its budget concentration on defending the side of its border facing the Empire. Gallian innocents were slaughtered like animals. A few days after the invasion, fighting had spread everywhere in Gallia, from Randgriz to Bruhl. Among Gallia's biggest losses was the destruction of its newly reconstructed Lanseal Royal Military Academy, the best, and only, military academy in Gallia. The Federation blitzed through Gallia and even started attacking the Empire. Imperials poured into Gallia to fight both Federals and Gallians. Once again, Gallia was caught between giants, and the Third Europan War began, barely three years after the Second Europan War. Baldren Gassenarl's dying words to the heroes of the Gallian Civil War, "_a tiny nation stripped of the fangs to defend herself,_" were completely justified, as Gallia took the heaviest losses between the three countries, its defenses torn and tattered beyond belief.

What no civilian knew, was that the war had started due to two people: Dr. Cynthia Forster, a scientist who researched Valkyria, and Jean Townshend, a Federal Ambassador. Both had fled Gallia towards the end of the Gallian Civil War, and had gone to the Atlantic Federation. Dr. Forster had recovered plans of the late Audrey Gassenarl's tank, Geriolul, and the once exclusive tank had been reconstructed and mass-produced by the Federal army for a year. Jean Townshend convinced the Federation's government that an invasion of Gallia would be profitable for them, and they were more than happy to oblige what with Gallia's current state of defenses.

_March 18, 1939_

"Hey, Anisette, we're ready to go! Get over here!" shouted Edy from their house's gate.

"All right, I'm coming," Anisette called back. She turned back to the scenery she was taking in with her eyes and sighed. A few days ago, she and Edy had decided (or rather, Edy had decided for them both) that they would go join the Gallian militia and defend their country... again. The fact that both were memorable war heroines would certainly have done their popularity no harm at all. They had formed a band and become celebrities. Of course, since the war started, they had not given any concerts. Anisette wasn't in a good mood because lifting a gun again had brought back memories for her. Not horrible ones, just sad. She hadn't seen her best friend, Zack, who had fought alongside her, for more than a year now. Because he was a Darcsen, she was not surprised that he couldn't keep in touch while rebel stragglers hunted him, but she was hoping that, once the dust of war had settled, he would contact her. Now war had started again, and what little hope she had of ever seeing him again had been dashed to the bottom of a cliff. He was probably even dead now. She shuddered at the thought; he'd taken bullets without even flinching, how could he die so easily? No, she was sure he was alive. Even if he was always on the move.

Edy came out of the house and locked their door in case they survived the war and got to come back home. They didn't talk to each other. Anisette had constantly been in a bad mood that they were leaving home to fight again. They had argued, had a shouting match, and had resorted to not talking to each other unless they had to. However, Anisette had agreed to go join the militia, simply because Edy was her sister. Edy got into the car they shared together and turned on the engine.

"Hey, do you want to drive?" she asked. Anisette smiled at her. She knew that Edy was trying to make her feel happier, and she loved driving their car.

"Thanks," she said as she got into the driver's seat.

"No problem," said Edy as she got in beside her. "Just don't get us both killed."

Half an hour into their silent drive, Anisette tried to make small talk.

"So... do you think any of your old squad are coming?" she said.

"Well, I hope Dallas comes. I sure hope Rosie doesn't. What about you?" said Edy.

Anisette opened her mouth to speak, then fell silent. She had been about to say that she hoped Zack came, but then she remembered that she had never even mentioned Zack to Edy. And she would have rather kept it that way.

"No, no one," said Anisette.

"What about Coleen?"

"Yeah, maybe her."

"And Cosette? You still hate her, right?"

"No, we made up when Lanseal closed," said Anisette, wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

"_What?_ You forgave her?" said Edy, sitting up incredulously. "Our big family rule number one: We never forgive someone who steals our spotlight!"

"Well, she saved us, didn't she? So I broke the _big family rule number one,"_ said Anisette, mocking Edy.

"You'll never be a real star for long if you keep on doing that," said Edy.

"Fine."

"Fine."

Silence fell between them again. Anisette sped up the car, trying to end the awkward journey quicker. An hour later, they (_Finally,_ thought Anisette) reached the army base. They parked their car outside and walked into the briefing room.

"Anisette / Edy Nelson, reporting for duty, sir," they said in unision, saluting the man in the briefing room. He looked up when they mentioned their names.

"Could it be...?" he said to himself, looking at them both. "The Nelson sisters? The war heroines? The celebrity singers?"

"Uh... yes," said Anisette, unsure of what to say.

"Go out to the back to get your weapons and armour," said the man, after seeming to gather himself.

Anisette and Edy went out to the back, where there were stacks upon stacks of .303 Storm Caliber Rifles. Back in the glory days of Gallia's army, such weapons would have been cremated as junk before they even left the factory, but desperate times in Gallia had changed that. The pair took two of these guns and went out to the rooms the man in the briefing room told them they were assigned to. Edy went to her room and shut the door; Anisette sat on her bed and started testing out her gun. She felt it was a poor excuse for a weapon compared to the Mags machine guns she had used back in 1937. Then again, Gallia hadn't been this desperate back then.

It was nighttime and since they would start their duties tomorrow, Anisette went to sleep soon. It wasn't easy; the beds were hard and the sheets itchy, unlike the comfortable beds she had slept on at Lanseal and at home. The next morning, as soon as she woke up, she went to the mess hall and after eating breakfast with Edy, went to the board that showed what times they would patrol the army base, looking for spies.

_Pvt. Edy Nelson 6:00 - 8:00_

_Pvt. Anisette Nelson 8:00 - 10: 00_

_Major John Blaze 10:00- 12: 00_

_Pvt. 1st Class Zack 12:00 - 2:00_

Anisette paused. The board said _Zack._ A Darcsen name. Could it be...? She shook her head at herself. Come to think of it, there were probably a lot of Darcsens named Zack. She must not get her hopes up. But she couldn't help it. She decided to ask the man in the briefing room.

"Hey, can I see Private 1st Class Zack, who's on patrolling duty?" she asked, feeling excited inside.

The man told her where Zack's room was, and not sparing Edy a glance, who had come behind her to see what she was up to, she ran back to the dormitories and burst into the room like a tornado.

"Zack!" she said as her eyes fell upon the familiar face of her friend. He saw her only a splintered second before she rushed into his arms. As he recognized her he returned her hug.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she told him.

"I came here because I thought you'd come too," he said.

"Uh... Anisette, who is he?" asked Edy, poking her head into the room.

Anisette turned around and bit her tongue as realization washed over her. "Oh. Uh, well, Zack is an old friend of mine," she said, feeling like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Hey, Zack, can I have a word with Anisette? Thanks," said Edy as she pulled Anisette out of the room.

"Who is he, really?" she asked Anisette, her hands on her hips.

"I told you, he was a friend of mine at Lanseal," said Anisette.

"And you just somehow neglected to mention this to me?" said Edy.

"Well, I would look like an idiot telling you after more than a year."

"Your letters didn't mention him. Tell me the truth, will you?"

"OK," said Anisette with a sigh, shuffling her feet. "Maybe we were more than friends. But just a bit more."

Edy just stared at her.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Blink or something," said Anisette.

Edy didn't move.

"I'm telling you, we weren't really that involved. The rebels, they were always swooping in and out of Lanseal, I..." Anisette trailed off.

Edy shrugged. "It's time for me to patrol, I'd better get going," she said coldly.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Anisette called after her. She turned around and went back into Zack's room, but he was gone. Feeling more annoyed than ever, Anisette went to the firing range and worked off her venomous anger there, shooting better than anyone else.

She didn't see Zack until nighttime, when they all returned to their rooms, except Zack, who had the last patrol. She walked out with him.

"Hey," he said, looking up. Anisette forcibly reminded herself of the same way way he had done that when they met two years before.

"Where were you today?" she asked.

"I was in Bruhl to look after civilians there," he said.

"They didn't send me anywhere," said Anisette.

"Of course not, it's your first few days. After that, life becomes hell," he said, his voice bitter.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"What-? Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?"

"You're not like yourself anymore. Back in Lanseal, you were always laughing."

"It's hard to be so happy here, watching people die everyday. It's been pretty lonely too. But I'm glad you're here, it'll be better now."

Anisette smiled at him.

"Was that your sister from before?" asked Zack as they walked to and fro in front of the base's gates.

"Yeah," said Anisette, not wanting to elaborate on the subject. Thankfully, Zack didn't.

"Odd thing, this war. The Federation hasn't had much to do with Gallia, they have their own ragnite supplies unlike the Empire," said Zack.

"Yeah, I don't know what they want. Gallia's too small for them to want to conquer it."

"How long do you think we'll last here?"

"Can you stop it?" she asked, coming to an abrupt halt.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"All you're talking about is the war and how we're going to die. Can't you talk about anything else?"

"All right, let's see. Oh yeah, my parents were killed by rebel stragglers and they've been trying to hunt me down this whole year. I haven't been able to stay in one place for more than a few days. They aren't happy that I took out Squad 3 on my own. I've enlisted in the Nameless, I've been taking suicide missions from the army, surviving them and always coming back, just so that I can do something. I came here hoping things would be better, and now you're all moody! What have I got to talk about?" said Zack. At the end of his rant, his eyes seemed to fill with tears, but the next second he brushed his hand over them so she couldn't see.

"I'm sorry," said Anisette, who had quietened with every word of his rant.

"Yeah, right," he said.

They didn't talk any more after that. At the end of the last patrol, they went to their own rooms. Anisette regretted that they couldn't go to each other's rooms to talk to him and tell hi she was sorry, but she thought she was lucky that she was able to see Zack with Edy around, who seemed to hold a grudge against both him and her.

In the morning, Anisette was given her first location to guard: Randgriz. Zack and Edy were sent with her. They sat together in an APC, Anisette beside Zack and facing Edy, and the silence was one of the most awkward they had ever experienced. When the APC stopped, Zack and Edy both climbed out without a word to her. Hurt, she took her gun, a few grenades, and clambered out after them to start guarding the city.


	2. Gallian National Anthem

**Retribution**

**Chapter 2: Gallian National Anthem**

Although Edy had been to Randgriz before, Anisette had never seen the city until now. It was obviously one of the better cities in Gallia, which came as no surprise since the Archduchess, Cordelia gi Randgriz, lived there. Anisette could see her 'palace', as she thought of it, from far away. A cool breeze was blowing when she got out; somewhere the Gallian National Anthem was playing, obviously done to raise the soldiers' morale. Anisette set off for the Town Square; it would be much more interesting there since she could see the people there, instead of guarding the city entrance, which seemed like dull, boring work to her.

She didn't know how long she stood there, her machine gun in her arms, watching the people walking to and fro. It was so peaceful. Anisette found herself humming the lullaby Edy used to sing to her when she was younger. Ths surprised even her; Edy hadn't sung it to her for several years now.

_Maybe she thought I was too old,_ she thought sadly, _but I wouldn't mind if she sung it to me even now._

She saw Edy talking to another soldier. Edy glanced at her every now and then, as if she didn't want Anisette to overhear her. Anisette pulled her eyes away and searched the crowd for Zack: he was talking to a group of Darcsen children who clearly looked up to him, leaning on his sword.

It was the nineteenth of March, 1939. A perfectly peaceful day.

Then all hell broke loose.

"Here they come!" shouted a Gallian soldier, readying his machine gun. "Move out!"

Soldiers, who had been scattered all over the town square talking to civilians or each other, sprang into action, forming lines in front of the civilians. The civilians stood there as if unable to believe what they had heard. A bang came from behind one of the walls around the Town Square. Everyone turned to face it. Anisette saw a Darcsen woman holding her baby and waves of pity swept through her. _I'll get her and her baby out of here myself_, she vowed inwardly.

Another bang came, and the wall was knocked down by a tank. It took one glance for Anisette to realize that is was a Heavy Tank A, one of the largest tanks in existence. It had the Atlantic Federation flag on it: that meant that it was the Federation that was attacking. The crowd of civilians started screaming and ran in all directions away from the tank as the Federation's soldiers poured in from behind the tank.

"Lancers, form up behind the shocktroopers!" shouted a Gallian soldier from the front as the heavy tank started to move forward slowly.

"Shocktroopers! Fire at the infantry! Fencers, get the civilians to safety!" shouted the same soldier, and Anisette, Edy and the rest of the shocktroopers started firing at the Federation's infantry which outnumbered them three to one. Gallian lancers pushed through to the line behind the shocktroopersand raised their lances at the tank and fired at its front.

"Why don't you get the lancers behind the tank instead?" Anisette asked the soldier who seemed to be the leader while she reloaded her gun.

"I would, but the Federation's got fencers there and I don't want all the lancers killed!" he replied.

The tank's barell passed over them almost leisurely as if the tank pilot was selecting him victim. Next moment, its barell flashed and a tank round exploded among the retreating civilians, killing a few of them and injuring several.

"Engineers, go check up on the civilians!" shouted the leader.

In a few minutes, though, this orderly fight had broken up, and soon the soldiers were fighting or defending the civilians regardless of their classes. Zack leapt into the midst of several Federation soldiers and killed them before they even realized what was happening. Anisette flinched at this; hadn't Zack always tried to avoid killing people when they were at Lanseal?

It was a weird state of confusion, and Anisette discarded her tenth magazine of spent ammo when a scream rang in her ears. That was no surprise; a lot of people were screaming, but this one was clearer, and obviously not the scream of a hardened soldier. Anisette turned and saw the Darcsen woman she had vowed to save before, bullet wounds in her legs, still clutching her baby as blood spread down her white dress. Leaving the front lines, Anisette ran to the woman and kneeled by her. The woman looked at her with a mixture of fear and pain, and Anisette wondered if she even knew what she was seeing.

"It's all right, we're going to take care of you," she told the woman. "Hey, medic!" she shouted over the woman's head. But the engineers were all busy treating other civilians. She took out her own small bag of ragnaid, even though she knew it wasn't enough to heal the woman, but she hoped it would stop the woman's pain anyway.

The ragnaid had no effect. Puzzled, Anisette tried twice more, but it didn't work, and she ran out of ragnaid.

"She's too far gone to be healed now," said a voice, and Zack kneeled next to her. There was sadness in his eyes, but not the intensity Anisette had seen before; say, when Mia had been killed.

"Take... care of... my son..." stammered the woman as she pushed her baby towards Anisette.

"I will," she said, taking the boy, and next moment the Darcsen woman's eyes were blank. Anisette got up and realized that every part of her body was shaking. She staggered over to the medic's tent and left the baby there until the fight was over.

A cheer went up suddenly outside: the lancers had finally destroyed the tank. Now that the Gallian soldiers didn't have much to worry about, they dealt with the Federation soldiers swiftly, and soon had them running off.

"I'll be damned, we did it!" said the leader. "Well, I doubt they're going to attack again today after that loss, so I say we head back."

In the APC, which the Federation soldiers had mercifully left unscathed, Anisette sat with Zack waiting for Edy when the APC started moving.

"What about Edy?" she asked.

"She'll have gone by one of the other cars," Zack said. Anisette fell silent.

Two silent hours later when they got to the base, evening had set in. Anisette got out and went to her room, unable to face anyone. She lay, fully clothed and armoured, on her bed, feeling useless. Her heart ached every time she remembered the poor woman's screams.

When she was about to turn the lights off and go to sleep, the door opened and Zack walked in.

"You didn't come to eat," he said.

"I didn't feel like it," she answered, staring up at the ceiling.

"Both of us feel guilty for a lot of things, Anisette, but remember that it's not your fault that woman died. We can't save everyone."

"I never said I can."

"But you're showing it."

"It just feels like, I can't save anyone," she said, sitting up.

"You saved her child."

"What will happen to him?"

"One of the retired soldiers will offer to look after him. They always do."

"Oh, right," she said, lying back down. "You were right. This job is depressing."

"Why'd you join up? I never thought killing people was at the top of your bucket list."

"Edy decided for both of us. Anyway, it'll help save Gallia. Maybe," she said. Then she sat up again. "Speaking of killing, how come you were able to do it so easily?"

"What do you mean?" said Zack.

"Back in Lanseal, you never killed someone if you could help it. It used to eat you up inside."

"Well, it never did us a lot of good. It nearly got me killed and you shot, and why drag that big, heavy sword around if I'm not gonna use it?"

"So, what, decapitations are your idea of fun?"

"No, they aren't. No more than yours. But if that's all you can talk about, I'll get going," he said and started walking away. Anisette, determined to have the last shot, shouted, "I don't believe you! If you haven't killed anyone for so long, why are you doing it now?"

"What, you think I'm trying to hold a record?" he shouted back at her, turning around.

"I swear I regret coming all the way out here when all you and everyone else is going to do is be bitches to me," said Anisette, standing up too. "I regret that I ever-"

Unexpectedly, Zack seized her wrist and pushed her against the wall. He wrapped his arm around her back and pressed his lips to hers. They had only kissed twice before; only once romantically. She shook slightly from the shock of it, but didn't reject it, and soon embraced him back. He started stroking her hair; though it lasted only a moment, it was pure bliss.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked gently. She nodded faintly. "I'm sorry I haven't been myself; being out here changes a person."

"I'd better get going now," he said, and let go of her. The loss of contact sent a pang of disappointment though her, but she didn't say anything.

"Goodnight," he said, turning off the lights for her.

Anisette took off her armour, but kept her clothes and even her boots on. She didn't feel like sleeping. Her thoughts were way back; when they were near their first kiss, rebels had attacked them. She didn't know why it disturbed her. She had wanted the two of them to be perfect, but their best moments had always been wasted. At last she fell into an uncomfortable sleep that wasn't helped by the fact that she still had her boots on.

"We aren't going anywhere today, just boring patrol duty," said one of the soldiers.

"Good," said Anisette and everyone stared at her. "Uh... I meant, you know, no risks?" she said, trying to explain.

"Uh... OK," said one of the soldiers, and they all went off.

Anisette decided to check up on the Darcsen boy she had rescued. She felt a kind of responsibility towards him, and the Darcsen woman had given him to her, too.

"We handed him over to one of the Darcsen settlements," said the medic. "Couldn't do much else for him."

"What? The Darcsens are too poor to take care of themselves, let alone him. Zack told me one of the retirees would take him in," she said. The medic gave her a long, hard look.

"They, keep a Darcsen in their house and raise him as their own? Not likely," he said and turned away.

"Would they have taken him in if he wasn't a Darcsen?" she asked.

"Well, it's too late to think of that. You'd better go on patrolling duty," he said.

Anisette turned back and went to Edy's room. Edy was still asleep. Once upon a happier time, Anisette would have dumped cold water on Edy's face and said, "Rise and shine!" but that was before. Missing those times, Anisette went out again and started readying her gun.


	3. Secrets of the Federation

**Retribution**

**Chapter 3: Secrets of the Federation**

**(Author's note: From this chapter onwards, the story will alternate between Anisette's, Edy's and Zack's points of view.)**

Towards the end of March, steel-grey clouds covered the sky, so that whatever time of the day it was, it looked like twilight. The Federals and the Imperials both attacked Gallia, and it seemed that Gallia's only trump card left was that its small army was still relatively intact. On 29th March, 1939, some small planes with Imperial flags passed over Gallia's army base. They were too small and too light to be fighter planes, but they caused a great deal of hubbub on earth.

"Scouts," said Zack, looking up as the planes passed quickly over them. He turned to Anisette. "They've found us out; looks like this is it."

"They're attacking?" said Anisette, who felt a kind of dread at the thought. Zack nodded. "Maybe later in the day, maybe tomorrow. But we're going to have to fight them off. We won't be the ones evacuated. They only save the high-ranking soldiers; we're like insects to them. Especially us Darcsen ones," he said.

"Fight them off?" Anisette repeated incredulously. Their only ground-to-air defense system was a single Bofors gun turret that was kept in the army base warehouse. She hoped that the Imperial fighter pilots didn't know how pathetic the army base's defense against fighter planes was, and that they'd pass over quickly only once or twice to avoid getting their planes blown out of the air. Because if they knew that all the base had against them was an outdated gun turret, the pilots wouldn't even bother to aim well.

Wind swept through the base, and a few drops of rain fell. The minute they touched the ground, the barren earth sucked them up.

"It's your favourite weather," said Zack with a smile. "Let's hope their pilots get struck by lightning," he added. Anisette laughed a dry laugh; already she was starting to imagine all kinds of horrible scenes. As if to make her panic even more, two more planes flew over from the direction opposite to the one the Imperial ones had come from. They circled the base and went back.

"The Federation knows we're here too now," said Zack. "If we had a better gun, we could shoot their scouts down, but we're pretty desperate."

The leader of the Gallian squad Anisette was in was running towards them. "Hey, you two!" he shouted. "Didn't you see those planes? We need to start digging slit-trenches so we have somewhere to hide when they start bombing us."

The rest of the day, Anisette, Edy and Zack spent digging slit-trenches for cover from the planes.

_We might as well be digging our graves,_ Anisette thought darkly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two soldiers rolling out the single Bofors turret they had and placing it in front of the slit-trenches.

"Bad idea," said Edy, who was watching them too. "There's no need to let them know where our slit-trenches are."

"Shut up and get back to digging!" the leader shouted at her.

Once they were done digging the zig-zagging slit-trenches and the Bofors gun was in position, they started setting up barricades at the gates in case the infantry came along too. By the end of the day, Anisette was so tired and sleepy she had to blink repeatedly to keep her eyes open. She was thinking of going to sleep when the planes came. It waas impossible to not hear the deafening roar of their engines. She went from drowsiness to full alert in a matter of seconds as soldiers everywhere began to run for the slit-trenches.

"Anisette, come one!" shouted Edy from the trenches. Anisette, who had been inconveniently farther from the trenches than the others, dove into the nearest trench as the world seemed to explode behind her. She was unceremoniusly thrown headfirst into the trench and would have broken her face if it hadn't rained earlier; the soil had turned into wet, soft mud from the rain and cushioned her fall. Now her face was covered in mud, but that was the least of her worries. For the first few minutes, maybe because they thought it a good joke, the Imperial pilots began bombing near the slit-trenches instead of getting rid of the tanks like they usually did. Anisette felt the head from each explosion on her back as she lay in the trench on her front side. One of the braver soldiers had piloted the Bofors gun and was firing hopelessly at the planes when one of the fighter planes' bullets struck him in the throat. He fell back into the slit-trench, and his dead body landed with a thud.

"You! Take his place!" shouted the leader at Anisette, who was again, inconveniently nearest to the turret.

"What, and get killed like him?" Anisette shouted back. It would have been a long arguement, but one of the bombs landed right on the Bofors turret and destroyed it, so the leader had no more reason to argue.

For the first ten minutes, they sat hunched in their slit-trenches, wincing at the particularly loud explosions. However, Anisette was waiting for the Federation planes to show up so that the Imperials would spare them and fight the more competitive Federation. A while later, the pause between the sounds of bullets got longer, so she decided to see if the Imperials was leaving. Unluckily, one of the straggling Imperial pilots was sweeping over her slit-trench right then, and one of his bullets struck her in the shoulder as she leaned out of it. Then she was down.

Immediately soldiers appeared on all sides, running towards her as she lay in her unglamorous position, half-in and half-out of her slit-trench. Zack got there first, and he took the upper half of her body in his arms and started cradling it. He put his hand to her wound and withdrew it, saw the blood on his hand, then shielded her eyes as she turned her head to see her wound.

"It's not that bad, we'll get you patched up," he said, trying to ignore the blood streaming down the left half of her uniform. "I'm here for you, all right? I'll take care of you. It's OK, it's not that bad," he said again, shaking her as her eyes started to close.

Anisette had a blurred vision of someone leaning over her, but she couldn't see who it was. She wondered why he was shaking her; she was in such pain, she wanted to go to sleep...

Edy pushed Zack aside and leaned over Anisette herself. She saw the wound and started to cry, pulling Anisette up. The medic was dead, the medic's tent burnt-down, and there was nowhere to go.

_April 4th, 1939_

The army base was completely destroyed, and all the army had left and gone to southern Gallia. Edy and Zack had stayed behind with Anisette, who was unconcious and hadn't woken up for a week. After many shouting matches with both the others and each other, the army had left, telling them that they were crazy bastards and were going to get themselves killed, in those exact words. There was a lot of pent-up frustration between Zack and Edy, because Edy hadn't forgiven Zack for whatever she hated him for; they'd spend a lot of time shouting at each other. Then Anisette would make a sound in her sleep, or her breathing would become uneven, and they'd both stop fighting and return to her side. Neither of them had slept for days, and both of them were fatigued. Zack had brought back whatever food the planes hadn't bombed, but they didn't eat anything because neither of them felt like it, and they wanted to save it for Anisette, scarce as it was.

After scavenging one of the burned-down buildings and retrieving shotguns and sniper rifles from it, Zack walked back to the former briefing room where they were keeping Anisette. Edy was there, dabbing -yet again- with some ointment at Anisette's partially-healed wound.

"Hey," he said. "I got these from one of the buildings," he said, holding up the guns. She nodded and continued what she was doing. Zack couldn't help but notice how dark the rings under her eyes were and how she was blinking repeatedly to stop herself from dozing off.

"You should go get some sleep," he said. "I'll take care of her."

"I'm fine," she said, not looking up.

"OK," he said. "Do you need anything then?"

"Stop it, Zack," she said, standing up with a sigh. Zack couldn't help but note that their only achievement in the last few days was that they were now on a first-name basis.

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Stop asking if I need anything. Stop asking if I'm OK. I'm OK," she said.

"It's just that it's been nearly a week we've been here and you haven't brought up once what we're going to do after Anisette wakes up."

"It won't matter to you, you should leave us," Edy said. "Go on, you're doing nothing but causing us trouble."

"Edy, once the Federation comes to check this base, it'll be best if we're in bigger numbers."

"We don't need you, we don't need anybody. Just leave!" she shouted, pushing him. Instinctively he slapped her at the same moment - with the back of his hand.

"Bastard," said Edy after inserting a finger in her mouth behind the point Zack had hit her, and withdrawing it to see a trickle of blood. "I'm bleeding."

"Good," he said. But while he got ready to leave, he looked up when she looked away to see if he had really hit her that hard. He hadn't wanted to injure her more than she already was, he had just acted on instinct. He put more TNT in his bag than anything else, then a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a few grenades, nothing more. He picked up his sword and walked out without another word. Edy followed him halfway to the gates, wishing she hadn't told him to go but knowing it was too late to say anything (he face really did hurt, anyway), then she walked to the other destroyed buildings hoping to find medical equipment in any of them. Because Zack had always brought back the stuff, she hadn't thought it as hard, but it proved quite a challenge, with only the thought of healing Anisette pushing her along. It was hard enough to lift broken sheets of wood off what looked promising, only to be disappointed.

Outside, as Zack walked out the base's gates, three scouts in Federation uniforms watched him intently, almost like vultures.

"Feh... a Darcsen," one of them, who looked about seventeen years old, said.

"Wonder if they kicked him out, the scum," said the other, who looked older and had a beard.

"We'll move in at night, take a nice long look and make sure their whole army is gone to the south," said the third, who looked about twenty five years old and had long red hair.

_Nighttime, April 4th, 1939_

Anisette woke up and found herself in a familiar room in an unfamiliar place. She stood up and walked (her legs feeling like lead and her head a bit heavy) towards one of the windows and peered out. It was bombed-out, completely. She remembered being shot at by a plane. She checked her shoulder, wherethe bullet had hit her and saw that it was half-healed. It didn't hurt, but felt slightly numb. She was still taking in her surroundings when Edy came in, carrying a bag with ragnaid in it. She took one look at Anisette and ran towards her, pulling her in a hug so tight that Anisette shoulder started to ache again.

"How long have I been asleep?" Anisette asked.

"Long enough," said Edy, and told her what had happened, although she deliberately left Zack out.

"And, what happened to Zack?" asked Anisette.

"He, uh... he went with the rest of the army," said Edy.

"He just left?" said Anisette. "Well, that's a bummer. Hey, Edy? Can you tell me why you were pretty cold these past few weeks?"

In any other case Edy would never have told her, but because Anisette had just sort of come back from the dead, Edy decided she deserved some small part of the truth.

"I guess I was jealous of you," she said, "you had so many friends already, and everyone liked you. It's not like that with me."

Anisette said, "Oh come on, I like you. Everyone likes you, it's just that you don't know it yet."

"Really? Thanks, I guess," said Edy. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," said Anisette.

Just then there were noises of trampling boots outside.

"The Federation," said Edy.

"Go hide," said Anisette in a panic. Edy hesitated for a second, then did that. Anisette lay on the ground, closed her eyes, held her breath and pretended to be dead. Seconds later, someone broke the door down and men walked in; from there voices, Anisette made out three of them.

"I guess she's dead," said one of them, who was the youngest, prodding Anisette with his toe. She kept still

"Let's go search for others," said the oldest one. Two of them walked outside, the youngest one, however, stayed.

"Better make sure she's dead," he said to no one in particular, and leaned over Anisette. Still keeping still, she waited to see what he was going to do; her lungs were aching from holding breath this long.

"Too bad she's dead," said the soldier. Then he felt her face and, instictively, she twitched it.

"She's alive!" the soldier shouted and fired a bullet that fortunately missed her, digging a hole into the wood under her arm. Anisette swiped out with her arm, taking his feet out from under him. The other two soldiers, instead of using the doorknob, kicked the door down and aimed at Anisette. One of them lowered his gun and put his hand on the other's.

"She's perfect. Dr. Forster could use her."

_Dr. Forster..._ the name sounded vaguely familiar to Anisette. The younger one got up, looking at Anisette fearfully, and went out. The other two walked her outside at gunpoint. Edy poked her head out of where she was hidden and seeing that no one was there, followed them outside.

Meanwhile, Zack was headed to a city south of the army base. He knew where he was headed; he'd been thinking about it ever since Anisette had been injured. The army had received reports of Federation soldiers similar to the V2's the rebels had used two years ago, with one difference: instead of being in a suit bathed in ragnite energy, they had become true Valkyria themselves. Zack had given this matter a great deal of thought, and deduced that if the conversion centre where unaware soldiers were turned into Valkyrur could be found and destroyed, Gallia might have a slight chance of winning. And he had an idea where it was: Yuell; the only city where there was no more resistance from the Gallian soldiers and no one went there.

Of course one person couldn't take down a conversion centre by himself, but anger coupled with a large amount of TNT had convinced Zack that he could. Zack hid and watched as a Federation convoy passed; a tank was bringing up the rear. Zack looked at it, then did a double take. It was the same tank Audrey Gassenarl had used, Geriolul. Something was up. He took out his sniper rifle and waited until the other APCs and cars were well ahead when he aimed into the tank's cockpit and shot the tank pilot in the head. Then he waited, hoping the other transports wouldn't stop, and when they were out of sight, got into the tank and pushed the dead pilot out.

The control panel was more complicated than anything he had ever seen. In fact, he was surprised one person was enough to drive the tank, but although it took him a while, (and he very nearly fired a tank round at the far-off convoy) he soon was able to drive it, albeit with difficulty.

Edy waited as the soldiers threw Anisette unceremoniously into the back of a truck and drove off, then got into the car Anisette and she owned together. To give Edy her due, she was far more mature and clever than Zack or Anisette, and instead of blasting her way through everything, she preferred to do things smoothly, with perfection. Even during her performances, if she made one mistake, she wasn't satisfied even if the audience were. She waited until the truck was a good distance off and started tailing them.

Hours later, the truck stopped at a bombed-out city that Edy was sure was Yuell. It was bombed out and looked a lot like the army base; then again, all bombed out places must look the same, Edy thought. The truck stopped in front of what looked like a former hospital converted for the Federation's use. She quickly turned the car and drove into a blasted alleyway where broken tiles and glass covered the ground. She parked it and killed the engine. She waited for a while, hoping nobody came that way. Nobody did. She got out and looked out. Nobody was there; obviously they had gone inside, taking Anisette with them. Their words rang in her ears: Anisette was perfect for... what? Taking her machine gun, she walked in. The place didn't have a gate, and the door had been blasted out. The Federation must have been confident no one would venture this way to have been so lax about security.

Zack was headed for the same conversion centre. He wondered whether someone with a Gallian uniform drove in with a Federation tank would count as weird. It would, so he left the tank behind and, hoping he wouldn't be noticed, walked into the same place Edy had walked into a while ago.

Once inside, Edy saw blue crates of ragnite stacked upon each other almost everywhere, save for a little space between each stack through which evidently Federation soldiers could patrol. She watched two soldiers talk , their backs turned to her. She listened as she sneaked through to where she thought Anisette had been taken.

"... a Gallian. What if she starts attacking us after they turn her?"

"She won't. Dr. Forster said we could beat her until she loses her memory. _Then _she becomes a Valkyrur."

"Anisette Nelson, huh? The bitch who gave Rebel Squad 3 trouble back in 1937?"

"The very same. I'm looking forward to when we get her to ourselves."

Edy's brain seemed to freeze with horror, but she didn't do anything stupid. Taking a few calming, silent breaths, she decided to do what she was doing anyway. If she could free Anisette before anything terrible happened to her, everything would be OK.

_They're turning innocent people into monsters,_ she thought. _After forcing them to lose their memories._ Hating the Federation more than ever, she sneaked into the shadows, unnoticed by either of the guards.

Zack wasn't half as subtle when he got to the same place a while later. The guards were patrolling together now. He dropped back a bit and found a place behind where they kept smaller crates of ragnite on trolleys. They were labelled as well. He turned a label over, wrote something on it and dragged a ragnite trolley back with him.

The guards inside raised their firearms as something materialized out of the shadows towards them.

"Ragnite trolley," one of them said. The other inspected it. He saw the label on top of one of them. On its underside was written a single word: FREEZE.

Their momentary surprise was all Zack needed. He fired a single bullet into the ragnite container and it exploded, blowing up the soldier who had been inspecting the crates. The other one was a bit farther back and was simply stunned by the explosion. Zack shot him as alarms went off everywhere inside the conversion centre. No soldiers showed up - _inside_ the ragnite room. But everywhere else they started assembling to stop the intruder. Edy's effort sneaking around was wasted as red lights went on inside the building, so she settled on the less subtle method of shooting her way into wherever Anisette was being kept.

Zack decided to leave his sword and sniper rifle behind. They were too heavy. But leaving them inside the building was too obvious, so he settled on the same alley where Edy had parked her car. Seeing it, he turned on his radio and called her.

"Edy? You there?"

"You set off the alarm? Idiot..." she replied.

"Where's Anisette?"

"She's here, the Federals brought her, I think they're turning her-"

"Damn!" Zack said. "Edy, get her out of there, then I'll blow this place up. Quick. Just go through quickly. Don't worry about being subtle."

During this, Anisette came to and became aware that she was tied to a chair. She gave up trying to wriggle her wrists out after a few tries, and slumped.

"You're awake," said a woman who was out of her sight. Anisette craned her neck towards the voice, trying to see who it was. A woman came into her sight.

"I'm Cynthia Forster," said the woman. "I was a research scientist at Lanseal Military Academy."

"Good. Where am I?" said Anisette.

"This is a place for keeping you and torturing you until you don't remember anything, then we're paying a visit to your old school to make you into a Valkyria," said the woman with a nasty laugh. "My soldiers will be delighted to do the honours. I'll tell you something since you won't remember it anyway: The Imperials did not kill your parents."

For a moment, Anisette felt like her brain had frozen.

The woman continued, "I was researching manmade Valkyrur. Your parents were great soldiers, and they found out too much about my research for my liking. I hired the Federation Ambassador, Jean Townshend, a legendary sniper, to kill them both. We have cooperated ever since."

Anisette felt a surge of hatred, but the woman didn't let up.

"Aliasse was only part of my interest in staying at Lanseal. I was focused mainly on you. Leon Hardins was a failure, I'll admit it... but you are perfect! You will be the Federations most legendary soldier. No one will remember that you were once something as simple as a singer. And that's why your sister was so eager to get you into the army. Rangers were already on their way to arrest you and bring you to me when you left. You saw the way Edy treats you. It can't have a simple excuse. Your hometown is destroyed, we saw to that. How certain are you that anyone will welcome you back anyway?"

"Bitch," Anisette said, struggling at the ropes again.

Anisette felt the ropes finally start to give. _If I can just get out,_ she thought. The Federals had taken away her guns but she still had her knife. The Federals no doubt overlooked it thinking of it as a pigstick, but it seemed enough to give Cynthia a painful enough death.

Unfortunatetely Cynthia saw this, went around her, and tightened the ropes. Anisette sighed, and slumped again.

"Think better of it," Cynthia said. "You'll get retribution for all the times you'd been overshadowed; by Edy, by Cosette, by anyone."

"How do you know this?" said Anisette, although it sounded an attractive offer. She'd always had to watch as someone else got the extra cookie; she'd been in love with Avan (even though that was more out of gratitude than attraction) but he'd never talked to her anymore than the rest of the class; her parents had always gushed over Edy (so had she, come to that); and Cosette had always gotten the glory as her squad's leader. But it came at too much of a price: forgetting everything. She shuddered at the thought. When she remained silent, Cynthia left her.

Far away, Federation soldiers were working ferociously at what was formerly Lanseal Academy for the start of their major conversion process.


	4. The Pain of Separation

**Chapter 4: The Pain of Separation**

**(Author's note: Finally, a new chapter. Sorry for the long delay - it went through a lot of story changes. This seems to be the best one. The chapters won't have all three characters' points of view now; that was a bad idea. Instead, they will alternate from chapter to chapter.)**

Anisette woke up right from one nightmare into another. The room was darkened except for a fire in the centre, around which a group of soldiers in Federation uniforms were gathered, talking although she couldn't make out what they were saying. The shortest one, from whom the rest seemed to maintain a distance, was heating a thin rod over the fire. Then, seeing that she was awake, he removed it and headed towards her. Seeing what was coming, she struggled as he advanced slowly, the rod glowing red-hot. Just before he was about to burn her skin, the door exploded open and Edy sprayed bullets into the room. The short one ran as she picked off his mates, but before he could get out she put three bullets right into his back. He fell and skidded across the floor leaving a fading trail of blood. Edy wordlessly untied Anisette and helped her up.

"Thanks," said Anisette. She wondered whether to ask about what Forster had said.

"I know," said Edy, avoiding her eyes as though she had discerned her thoughts through them. "I was trying to keep you safe."

"I know you were," said Anisette. "Just let me in on it the next time," she said, putting a hand on Edy's arm to indicate she wasn't angry.

"Zack's still here," said Edy. She put a hand on her radio codec. "Zack, I've got Anisette. We're going to get out now. Meet us at the car."

The radio codec was silent for a while. Finally he said, "Yes, ma'am. She isn't hurt, is she?"

"I'm fine," said Anisette. "But this isn't the place."

"Then where?"

"They're conversion centre's at Lanseal," she said, knowing that he wouldn't like it.

" ... Those evil ..."

"I know. But we have a duty to go through with this."

"And if you see any enemy, don't bother to fight them. Just run. And Anisette?"

"Yeah?" said Anisette, feeling both uncomfortable at having Edy hold the radio for her this long, and wanting to get out of the over-sterilized-smelling room.

"It's good to hear your voice again," he said. Behind the radio, Edy shrugged.

"Yours too. We're moving out now," said Anisette.

"Take this," said Edy, handing Anisette her sidearm. "Get behind me."

Getting out of the building was the easy part. There were barely any soldiers. As they turned the last corner, Zack met them and held Anisette for a while (Edy stood impatiently during that). And during that a red laser sight appeared on Zack's back.

"Zack, get down!" Edy shouted, doing so herself as she realized it was a sniper.

Unluckily the sniper foresaw this and aimed where Zack's leg was seconds later, and managed to hit him. Anisette gave a yelp as another bullet nearly hit her and dragged Zack out of harm's way as the sniper went on shooting from where they couldn't see him. Edy pulled out the only grenade between the three of them and threw it blindly, but it did stop the shooting for a while.

"Can you stand?" Anisette asked Zack.

"Do I look like I can stand?" he said, managing to smile.

"Fine, then it's my turn to save you," she said and put his arm over herself, dragging him up.

"If you drag me along, you might not be able to..." he said.

"I know," said Edy, "but we're not leaving you behind."

"Don't try so hard to get yourself killed," said Anisette. He smiled, both of them remembering their battle two years ago.

Getting away from the place was the hard part. The sniper had busted their car's wheels, and as Zack insisted on carrying his sword, it was hard to walk, but they made it to the edge of the town near a river where all three of them collapsed breathlessly.

"My feet are killing me," said Anisette.

"My feet are already dead," Zack said darkly.

"Oh, damn," said Anisette as she looked at the wound on his leg. "We forgot the ragnaid back at the car."

A Gallian APC pulled up in front of them. Two soldiers came out and stood at attention with their hands behind their backs.

"We received intel on Gallian soldiers in Yuell," said the taller one. "We need more soldiers to defend our new base. By coming back from Yuell alive, you have proved your capabilty. Please come with us."

"Hey," said Zack. "Perfect timing. Got any ragnaid?"

The soldier literally turned up his nose and said, "We have only room for a few more soldiers. You," he said, inclining his head towards Zack, "can't come with us."

Zack turned his head away and said, "Nothing I didn't expect. Now what about that ragnaid?"

The soldier pulled a ragnaid container from his front and threw it down.

"Thanks, although you could have handed it to me," said Zack, healing himself, although it would take a while for him to fully recover.

"Why can't he come with us?" asked Anisette indignantly. "If that's the way it is, I'm not coming either."

The soldier looked annoyed by now. "Desertion in time of war is an offense punishable by court martial. Either you come along quietly, or you face the latter."

After a few agonizing minutes she finally reached her decision.

"Zack, you can't come with us," she said, kneeling next to him.

"It's OK, I'll find my own way around," he said. "I'll meet you again before you know it," he said, thumping her shoulder to emphasize the point.

"Bye Zack," said Edy quietly as they climbed into the APC.

"Bye," he said.

Anisette stalled for a few minutes climbing into the APC, stretching out her arm to him to indicate that they'd be together soon enough. As the APC drove off and he faded away into a cloud of dust, she saw that he was doing the same.

"He'll be OK," said Edy. "We've got our own battle to fight."


	5. Tears of Wars

**Chapter 5: Tears of Wars**

Zack struggled up and pulled his side-arm out of its holster; then picked up his sword. Fitting its handle under his arm, he stood for a while and stared at the far-away APC, knowing that he wasn't going to see Anisette for a long time. Well, at least he had found something out on the Federation's plans. Except that he had been left behind then. He couldn't contact the Gallian military to tell them, and even if he did, they wouldn't believe him.

_Anisette will tell them, _he thought. _Smart girl, her._ Unfortunately, his attraction to her always seemed to end at them being separated or nearly dying, or both as was the case now. Pushing these bitter thoughts away from his mind he thought for a while what to do. There seemed to be nothing at all to be done except wait for something to happen. He decided to focus on survival for now; staying alive will both Federation and Imperial soldiers all over Gallia would be hard enough.

He had given his Darcsen marked armband to Anisette when she had left to make for a way to keep them together, but he still felt empty. He had become very protective of her in the last few days, ever since she'd come so close to death... again.

A sound behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. Once upon a happier time he would have thought it was just the sound of the river behind him and blamed himself for imagining things, but hard times had sharpened his senses and he immediately put a hand on his sword. There was a rustle and a soldier in Imperial uniforms came out with their guns directed at him.

"Stop right there!" the soldier shouted as Zack took a combative position. He looked to be only fifteen years old and his hands were shaking on his gun.

Zack held up the hand with his pistol in it. "I've had enough of being shot for a day. Besides, you don't have what it takes to kill me; you can't even hold your gun straight."

"What-? You'll pay for talking to me like that!" said the Imperial, jerking his gun forward and pulling the trigger. There was a click but nothing happened.

"See? You don't even know you're supposed to take the safety latch off," said Zack. he ran at the Imperial and hit his chin with his palm, knocking him out. Immediately more soldiers in Imperial uniforms appeared around him.

"Surrounded..." said Zack as he looked around.

"Hold up,"said another voice and a man walked out from between the Imperials. As Zack registered the man's face, he lowered his gun and looked surprised.

"Helmut?" said Zack.

Helmut Bourdais had been a student at Lanseal the same year as Zack and Anisette, and was one of the heroes who ended the Gallian Civil War. Being an Imperial exchange student, he had gone back to the Empire at the end of the war and hadn't been seen by his comrades since. Zack and Helmut hadn't been the best of friends, but they'd fought alongside each other and always thought of each other as a brother in arms.

"Sir, you know this person?" said one of the soldiers.

"Leave us," said Helmut, and all the soldiers immediately backed off.

"You haven't changed a bit, not being able to kill someone," said Helmut, indicating the unconscious soldier between them. "Take him to the medic," he called, and the soldiers carried off their comrade.

"You don't know how much I've changed," said Zack.

"Then why did you hesitate to kill him?"

"He's still young."

"Exactly. You let your pity get the better of you."

"You haven't killed me either."

"That's because I've decided something," Helmut said, walking around Zack. "Ever since I went back to the Empire two years ago I've felt empty. I couldn't explain it. Was it the guilt of surviving the Gallian Civil War? Only when this war started, did I realize what it was. This country," he said. "I've decided to protect Gallia... whatever the cost may be."

"Helmut," said Zack, holding back his shock. "You mean you're leaving your own country for

"The Empire is not my country," interrupted Helmut, raising his voice. "I was born here. I was raised in Gallia. _This_ is my country. I sacrificed so much for this land, and although my parents were Imperials, I am a Gallian."

Zack paused for a while. He was unsure of what to say. "Thanks, Helmut," he finally said.

"We must hurry, or the Imperials will notice I am gone. Where's the army base?" said Helmut.

"See, that's the problem," said Zack. "I've been left behind."

" ... Maltreated because you're a Darcsen. I see that the civil war failed to open our politicians' eyes," said Helmut.

"We'll have to reach there on foot," said Zack.

"I have a better idea," said Helmut. He went behind one of the houses. Zack followed him to find an APC.

"You can drive one of these?" asked Helmut.

"... Sure," said Zack.

"Then let's move!" shouted Helmut, becoming his old, commanding self again. "I've got inside information on the Empire's position. This way Gallia can drive the Imperials out, then deal with the Federation."

"Helmut..." said Zack. "Thanks again for helping us."

Helmut smiled, something he rarely did. "Thanks for not killing me at once."

Back at the army base, Anisette and Edy were taken to one of the leading generals of the Gallian army.

"Well? What did you find there?" he said carelessly.

"They're converting humans into Valkyria," Anisette said quickly, interrupting both Edy and the general, trying to get it over with quickly she was still thinking about Dr. Forster's offer. "That's where they take them first then they're taken to where Lanseal was. That's where they make then into Valkyria. If we can destroy that, it'll be much easier to drive the Federation out."

"And how do I know you're not spies?" said the general, running through the basics of what they always did to pretend that he wasn't interested.

"Because the whole of Gallia knows us, I think?" said Anisette, making no attempt to hide her impatience.

"What if you've defected to the Federation?"

"What good would that do us?"

The man exhaled deeply and got up. "Fine. I'll put a team of scouts on there to see if it's true."

"There isn't time for that," said Anisette impatiently. "They're turning people into monsters. Good people."

"Full army mobilization isn't fast when they're already fed up with being pushed around," said the general.

"You don't need to do that much. An air strike is all you need to do," said Anisette.

The man blanched. "Gallian planes are already scarce, and we can't waste that many resources to blow up a building as big as Lanseal."

Anisette thought for a while, then brightened up.

"Fine, we'll lead the team then. We have something that might blow it up anyway," she said, holding up the TNT Zack had secretly given her.

"Where'd you get that?" said the man.

"Nowhere. Now tell us if you want to see Gallia at peace again or not."

The man sighed; he evidently felt defeated. "Fine, I'll see what I can do."


	6. Retribution Lost

**The Final Chapter: Retribution Lost**

**Author's note: Thanks to eric8teen for lending his characters Nehro and Zanna from his story Chronicles of the Darcsen Brotherhood. This chapter contains character death, but it's non-canon to the game series so that's okay.**

(Part 1)

A few days later, Anisette and Edy were back at the general's office.

"We're sending a team of scouts and shocktroopers to Lanseal to see if this so-called conversion centre actually exists. These guys call themselves a war pack - The Darcsen Brotherhood, if I remember," he said, leaning over his desk to them. Anisette didn't like him, and neither did Edy. He had a huge moustache that moved annoyingly up and down when he talked, and his mouth stank of tobacco and who knew what else. He seemed to be very proud of his moustache - he leaned back in his chair and started stroking it. "However, Darcsens are helpless by themselves - "

"Only because you higher-ups treat them so badly," said Anisette angrily, thinking of how they had left Zack behind. "And if this is _the _Darcsen Brotherhood, you couldn't have won the 1935 war without them."

" - so I'm sending one of my best men to lead them. You don't know how much I'm doing for your far-fetched claims, Nelson," he said as if he hadn't heard her.

"Not much. When are we leaving?"

"In a few weeks."

"A few weeks! That's far too long."

"You should be grateful it's happening at all..."

At the same time, Helmut and Zack reached the outskirts of one of the army's smaller bases and from there Helmut said, "Stop."

"Now what?" said Zack, looking back from the pilot's cockpit.

"I can't go in there like this - I just need to be near enough to send them a message and hear what they have to say."

"Right, a Darcsen and an Imperialist. I bet they're bringing out the red carpet as we speak," said Zack sarcastically.

"Remember Avan Hardins?"

"Hard to forget."

"I've already met up with him and he's going to help us out with this."

"Wait, you didn't make that decision to join us right there, right then?"

"I'd been thinking about it for a year."

"Why are you helping us anyway?"

Helmut looked at Zack with such a bitterness in his eye that it could have withered tree bark. "I'm not doing this for you or anyone else. I'm doing it for the civilians in Gallia. You guys treated me like an outsider in 1937, then kicked me out back to the Empire. Remember?"

"I know what they treat you like, it's the same with me," said Zack.

Helmut opened the APC's back door and for a while they waited when an orange bird - a Gallian swift - flew in with a blue ribbon tied around its neck.

"Jarde?" asked Zack.

"I told you, Avan is going to help us contact the army. Very few soldiers own this bird, and it's only found in Gallia. It can only be an insider that contacts them."

Helmut took a map of the Gallian-Imperialist border out of his bag and marked five locations on it, two of them inside Gallia and three of them barely outside the border.

"Those are the Empire's outposts. If they can destroy these, they can drive out the Empire which will make dealing with the Federation much, much easier," Helmut explained as he wrote a note with the same gist, enclosed it around Jarde's neck and sent the bird off.

"I hope they believe you," said Zack. "Now we've got somewhere else to go."

"Where?"

"Lanseal."

Across the time of the next three weeks, the bulk of the Gallian army - with skeleton forces left behind to defend the bases - moved near the border and destroyed every one of the Empire's outposts with such force that the Empire had no time to react. The Empire announced its withdrawal from the war in the next few days. Gallians were overjoyed at this victory, however no one knew who had provided such accurate intelligence to the army. Cordelia gi Randgriz gave a speech to the public the day after the Empire withdrew, holding a Gallia Commemorative Medal for the brave person who saved the Gallians in the west of the country.

At midnight of the last day of May, Anisette and Edy were listed as part of the task force that were going to scout Lanseal. As Edy picked up her gun and loaded it, she said, "I forgot how easy it was to get ammo when you didn't have to lift walls for it. Guess these guys are good for something."

"We should go say hi to the guys we're working with," said Anisette.

The Darcsen Brotherhood was a war pack created in 1935 by the Darcsen soldier Nehro, who along with his sister Zanna and his other companions, had been a crucial state within a state to Gallia during the war with the Empire. After the end of 1935 it was disbanded and was reformed after the war with the Federation started. However, out of all the soldiers that had been in it since the start, only Nehro and Zanna were left of the original squad - others had chosen civilian lives or were in other parts of the country.

Nehro was in his early twenties, older than both of them, with long hair and a medium stature. His younger sister, Zanna, who was medic on this mission, was slightly younger than Edy but older than Anisette. She still looked to be about Anisette's age, though.

"Thanks for helping out on this," said Edy to them both.

"It's all right, all I want is this war to end so we can go back to our normal lives," said Nehro.

Anisette seemed to say something but hesitated, and Edy saw this. She said nothing, however.

"We've heard so much stuff about you. How you're one of the most skilled snipers in the Gallian army and all," said Edy.

"Yeah, my father taught me everything about rifles. In fact, he taught me everything I know," said Nehro.

"Hey! Get moving, all of you!" shouted a tall man, moving towards them from the other side of the base. Following him were a group of Darcsen teenagers who could barely lift their guns.

"They're coming with us?" asked Anisette, indicating what was supposedly their squad.

"Yes," said the man. "I'm the leader of your squad, Vlad Galvez. You'd better shut up and do as I say unless you want trouble."

"They're having trouble handling their guns, how can you expect them to - "

"They won't need them if you're a bit quieter. This isn't a battle, it's scouting."

"Right," said Anisette, giving up for once.

While the other soldiers got into the two APCs they had for this mission, Edy pulled Anisette aside.

"Listen," she said. "We might not come back alive from this with our idiot of a commander, so tell me now - what were you about to say when Nehro talked about the war ending?"

"It's nothing," said Anisette - or nearly did so. She decided against it. "I just wish we were back in 1937. It was a war, but it was OK because I always knew I was going to wind up at the academy - now we never know where to go - and everyone thought of me as one of them. Now everyone remembers me as a celebrity, but no one remembers me as a soldier. I wish that didn't happen. I wish I could just go back to school and be normal."

"It's happened to me too. I promise, when this war ends we'll be normal again," said Edy.

"We won't. Dr. Forster said they destroyed our village. We've got nothing left."

Edy was quiet for a while, trying to face that the place where she'd always lived had been destroyed. " ... It won't stay burned down forever. We'll help in rebuilding it when we get back. That's something to remember us for," she said.

"Thanks, Edy. You're a great older sister," said Anisette.

Two hours later, they were nearing the academy, Anisette overcome by a deluge of memories that started here, when the APC in front of them stopped. The commander, Vlad, stepped out. The place was oddly deserted.

"Get out, and check inside!" he shouted at the rest of the soldiers.

"While you just stay safe here?" aasked Anisette, climbing out.

"Rank has its priveliges," said Vlad pompously.

"I don't understand. This place should be crawling with Federals," she said to him in a low voice.

"Which means it's a trap," added Edy.

"You dragged us here and now you're saying we should high-tail it to safety?" asked Vlad.

"No, I'm saying we should be smart. We can't go through the front, that'll get us killed," said Anisette.

"We're not going through the front. The Darcsens are," he said. "They're our decoys. We're going in through the back."

"You're going to get them all killed?" asked Anisette. "They trust you and they're following you, and you're feeding them to the Federation now?"

"It's not too big of a sacrifice. Move out, men!" he shouted over to the Darcsens and they all started moviing towards the academy gates.

"Wait!" Edy shouted at them, but they didn't seem to hear her.

As soon as the Darcsens passed through, landmines exploded and some of them died right there while the rest scattered. Gunfire sounded and orange lightning flashed just behind the academy gates. Vlad ran around to the back.

"That stupid idiot," said Edy. "There's nothing w can do about this now, we'll just have to follow him."

As they reached the back of the academy, they saw Vlad kneeled over at an awkward angle, a gunshot wound in his leg. As they watched, a shot sounded and a sniper bullet went right through his neck and he slumped forward, dead, like a ragdoll.

"There!" said Edy, pointing her gun over at where the R&D building was, and Anisette saw a man with completely white hair and a thick beard, holding a sniper rifle. Anisette recognized him at once from newspaper pictures: Jean Townshend, who wasn't just a Federal Ambassador but also a sniper. The man who had killed her parents and destroyed her life. He saw her too, and when their eyes met she saw that he knew exactly who she was. Then he was again with the rifle and fired at her, missing narrowly.

"I'm going to kill him," she said plainly to Edy. "Keep firing at him and keep him distracted."

"You're a quick thinker," said Edy.

"I'm angry, not stupid," said Anisette. "Now!"

Edy opened fire at Townshend and Anisette ran around to the R&D building. Anisette was awful at stealth, but the leaves covering the ground and the dark of midnight kept her well covered anyway. She slowed down as she reached him and took out her knife - remembering that it was the same knife she used at Lanseal - and launched herself at him just as he noticed her and turned around. She grabbed his back and dug her knife right into his chest. In the moment that their eyes met, his filled with fear and hers fiery, he gasped, "Nelson..." and went limp. Anisette removed her knife and looked at him for a while, until Edy walked over to her.

"That's for our parents," said Edy.

(Part 2)

But the battle wasn't over yet. They still had to rescue the Darcsens - those that were alive anyway - and destroy Lanseal. But having been farther back in their own battle, they didn't notice what had happened back there.

Zack and Helmut had arrived in the nick of time, and even though they weren't a whole army in quantity, they definitely were a whole army in quality. They had turned the tide of the battle in favour of the Darcsen Brotherhood, and most of the Federal soldiers were dead.

When Edy and Anisette went back inside the main building, it was quiet as death.

"Hold it - oh, it's you," said a dark form in the shadows which turned out to be Zack. Wordlessly Anisette and Zack walked together, and kissed each other while Edy went off to help the injured Darcsens. When they finally pulled apart, it seemed like the world had changed.

Helmut had disappeared. The Darcsens, most of them injured of disoriented, were staggering back, and as Anisette remembered their final mission, she realized that something wasn't right.

"Zack, this doesn't look much like a conversion centre to me," she said. He nodded tiredly. "It isn't," he said. "In fact, it feels like some kind of ... "

"Trap," said Anisette, her senses jerking into alertness. Just then Clementia Forster appeared, but drastically changed. Her hair was completely white and blue flame erupted around her.

"It isn't," she said. "At least not for anyone else. I intended to make myself a Valkyria, and test my powers here. Now where is Jean?"

"You go check. We'll wait here," said Anisette as she and Zack raised their guns together.

"You killed him, didn't you?" she said. Her eyes went deep red and she screamed of rage as the Valkyrian flame around her shot off in all directions, demolishing the entire building. Someone pulled Anisette out of harm's way as the roof caved in.

(Epilogue)

When Anisette woke up, the first thing she noticed was that her head felt like it had been filled with wet cotton. Annoyed, she shook it, trying to clear it, but it only felt worse.

She was in some kind of medic's tent.

"You're awake," said a man who she thought was the medic.

"Where's Edy and Zack?" she asked.

"Zack who? And Edy's been drafted to another squad. She left a letter for you while you were unconscious," he said. Then he walked out. Anisette picked up the letter. It was in Edy's hurried writing.

_Dear Anisette,_

_I'm being drafted to another squad, so I'm sorry having to leave you. Especially at this time. I've gotten in contact with Helmut, and he said he's joining the Gallian militia now. Nehro and Zanna are in the same squad as me. Clementia Forster escaped, but I'm sure we'll find her soon. It turns out that the conversion centre wasn't in Gallia after all, and that this war isn't looking to end any time soon. I'm sorry that I can't fulfill the promise I've made any time soon either. Zack was there when Lanseal was destroyed, and no one could find him. They think he didn't make it._

_It's said that if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. I hope it'll be the latter for you. I'm sorry that you both couldn't spend more time together. In the end we got retribution for our past losses, only to have new ones. But no matter how long it takes, I'll see to it that you do get to have a normal life._

_Love, Edy._

A tear fell from Anisette's eye onto the letter. "Edy, I... " she said. Then she scrunched up the letter and threw it away. She didn't take the news of Zack well, and she felt guilty for not apppreciating Edy as much as she deserved. She doubted she would ever be the same again.

**END**

**Author's note: What a tragic ending. But it's only for a third sequel (I love writing Valkyria Chronicles stories) and besides, everyone loves a sob story. I originally meant to continue it in this story and make this chapter longer, but school got in the way. I will start writing the third story as soon as possible.**


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